Poul Bech Hansen, a Danish Hovawart owner, wrote the following text on the current situation of the laws on dogs in Denmark:
“I have tried to find some fact covering the last 3 years where the law has been implemented.
622 dogs has been put to sleep with this law.
465 of this dogs belong to the banded dog type. The dog has been put to sleep with the cause illegal import, breed
1) Pitbull terrier.
2) Tosa inu.
3) Amerikansk staffordshire terrier.
4) Fila brasileiro.
5) Dogo argentino.
6) Amerikansk bulldog.
7) Boerboel.
8) Kangal.
9) Centralasiatisk ovtcharka.
10) Kaukasisk ovtcharka.
11) Sydrussisk ovtcharka.
12) Tornjak.
13) Sarplaninac.
157 dogs have been put to sleep with the definition bite and attack
66 of this 157 dogs belong to the banded types (see the list)
91 dogs of other types have been put to sleep via the law during the last 3 years. ( in Denmark we have 550.000 registered dogs )
Tourist is not allowed to bring any of the banded dogs into Denmark – reaction is expulsion of the owner and dog – no confiscation of the dog.
A new version of the law has been in consultation exercise until the 18 October at DKK (Danish Kennel Klub) and DCH (major dog organization in Denmark )
And a revision is prepared where the critical point regarding bite on human or other dog is going to be changed to savage bite with direct attack, and the paragraph is also going to have a evaluation of the situation and a normal fight regarding the ranking between Dogs is not to be considered as attack and savage bite.
And if a situation occurs and somebody wants to bring the law in action the evaluation of the situation / fight is mandatory and done from specialist selected from DKK and DCH not the police or veterinarian.
And this is a clear improvement, and I expect after the consultation exercise by DKK and DCH further improvements are going to be implemented and improved from the national parliament of Denmark before the end of 2013.
I hope that this is bringing you some fact and some comfort – we also love our dogs.”
(October 23, 2013)
The above statement is Poul Bech Hansen´s private translation, understanding and summary of all statements of the government on this subject.
He has added a link to the Danish government homepage with a press release covering the existing law where all the facts and figures in his text can be confirmed:
http://en.fvm.dk/focus-on/the-danish-dog-legislation/hunde-sind-in-daenemark-willkommen/